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This week in class we took a deeper look into the laws surrounding keeping our students safe and knowledgeable when working on the internet. I had actually never heard of these laws before, and had no clue that these kinds of laws were in place. I know that my school has all of the documents required through these laws in place, but I always thought it was just common sense and our responsibility as educators. I like the idea of having these laws in place, but I just find it so hard to enforce when not inside the school the setting. We have site blocks and intensively teach about internet etiquette, but so many of our kiddos go home and have no censors and are exposed to things that are so inappropriate. In the light of the recent news in Florida, I can't help but think there could be something more we could do to help students and young children not have access to those kinds of terrible sites. I believe in the freedom of internet sites, but I think until students are old enough or taught how to proper interact with Social Media and internet sites, there needs to be laws in place outside of the school setting. In my district we use the Net Smartz website to teach children about their responsibility online. It is cartoon animated and speaks in kid friendly language. It is the first website that I have found that the kids seem to respond well to. Follow the link below to check it out
Net Smartz Kids
I think that 13 is an appropriate age, but I also think there should be more done rather than just an age requirement. They need the education before allowing them the large responsibility that is an internet presence. I do agree that COPPA teaches kids to lie. I remember when I was in high school and Facebook used to require that you be 18 to get a page. I lied without hesitation to get a page and be cool like everyone else. Kids these days have every social media account you can think of and the majority of them are under 13. I know that some of my basketball players that are in 5th and 6th grade try to add me on Facebook and Instagram. There is no doubt in my mind that the creators of these social media sights know the majority of their subscribers are underage. There has to be something more we can do. I did my terms and conditions presentation on YouTube and it was also a 13 and over. I know that I have students in my classroom that go home and watch all types of videos that are inappropriate. It needs to take more than "Click if you are ___ and over" to keep these kinds of thoughts and information out of their hands. I don't know the solution, but I think it needs to be a conversation starter with these different social media sites.
Hi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteIt is so difficult to regulate age limits and accessibility to inappropriate content for children. It is easier and necessary to provide protections and oversight in our schools but what they do outside of school is out of educators control. All we can do is teach and train them to use the internet and websites safely. I don't have an answer about age limits for social media and I agree it sets up children to lie to gain access. All I can say is that it's complicated.
Happy to hear your students respond well to NetSmartz. In terms of there needing to be more done than just say "I'm 13" when signing up for a social media site I agree. It got me thinking- what if social media platforms starting implementing some sort of safety quiz that a person has to take where they have to achieve a certain percentage in able to access the "sign up here" page. It's not the only solution but maybe it's a start.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing NetSmartz with us. I'll be sure to check it out! Our district recently removed the computer teacher job, where students received instruction on digital citizenship and other online safety-related topics. Now it is up to the classroom teachers to provide this incredibly valuable and necessary instruction.
ReplyDeleteI love Nicole's idea of giving a safety quiz instead of an age restriction. This sounds like a plausible solution, that gets to the heart of the issue. Rather than teaching students to lie, why not make sure they have the knowledge and skills to protect themselves online?